AD vs RW round 1 @ UCO

[RollChos]

I saw it coming, but assumed it would be 2 or 3 years away.

BS.

[lleachieshusband]

I remember the QB being kind of a statue, and having a rough go of it.

He was a drop-back passer who didn’t impress during the previous seasons, not very mobile, and not very quick with his reads. It didn’t help that the QB2 at the time, Baker, wasn’t deemed accurate enough to step up, and Randy Schmidt, who was probably a better QB than either one of them, got injured early on. After Zimmerman, we really had no one in development and our first recruited QB post-AD was Braden Wright, which should tell you something.

[lleachieshusband]

If the kid is good enough as a true Fr to play you can't redshirt him. With the transfer portal he will go elsewhere and play.

That’s a big difference now, but we actually stopped doing it when RW became head coach prior to the transfer portal becoming a thing. We were taking redshirts off to fill gaps in positions due to lack of depth, injuries, or both, not because the kids were good enough.

[Predatory Primates]

Not sandbagging. Anyone that tells you they saw that upset coming is lying. I would definitely agree the gap is narrowing. NW isn’t the unbeatable beast they used to be. In fact, they haven’t won in Edmond since 2016 now.

I saw it coming, but assumed it would be 2 or 3 years away.

[Wallst]

In and among everything above (and I’d argue our QB recruiting has gone downhill as well), there is one thing that we haven’t done very much from the Mel (and even AD) days, and that is keep our redshirts as redshirts. In recent years, how many times have we redshirted players only to pull it just as quickly? Is this something that is hurting our player development over the long term?

If the kid is good enough as a true Fr to play you can't redshirt him. With the transfer portal he will go elsewhere and play.

[RollChos]

That might have been the ultimate "sandbagging" moment on the MIAA forums. UCO's upset win is making me wonder if Northwest is slipping or if the gap is narrowing (Pitt State, UNK) atop the standings (though it's been a few years since I've really been paying attention to D2 football, admittedly).

Not sandbagging. Anyone that tells you they saw that upset coming is lying. I would definitely agree the gap is narrowing. NW isn’t the unbeatable beast they used to be. In fact, they haven’t won in Edmond since 2016 now.

[Predatory Primates]

That was RW’s first year after AD left. We were playing our previous year’s 3rd stringer as our QB1 that year … and it showed.

I remember the QB being kind of a statue, and having a rough go of it.

[ctrabs74]

As long as you aren’t sandbagging. We all know UCO has no shot in this one. We’re just hoping to score a TD and not get shutout in front of the home fans! Glad you like our punter though!

That might have been the ultimate "sandbagging" moment on the MIAA forums. UCO's upset win is making me wonder if Northwest is slipping or if the gap is narrowing (Pitt State, UNK) atop the standings (though it's been a few years since I've really been paying attention to D2 football, admittedly).

[lleachieshusband]

I agree. It could go one of two ways... It could wake us up and we play well the rest of the way, or it's a sign that we're going to have a down year. Either way, calls for Rich Wright's head are ridiculous even if you feel he's a better coordinator than head coach. You lose the coordinator too... And AD is not coming back. Listen, Dorrel had an amazing run at NW, but he left... it's not "payback" as a post in this thread said earlier. He took an opportunity and good for him. Let's also not forget that AD had an amazing staff during his time at NW as well, which included Rich. As good at building an offense and offensive game planning as AD was, Wright was equally as good on the other side of the ball. We haven't had truly great quarterback play since Zimmerman really, which coincides with ADs departure... how much of that was really AD, how much of that is now Todd Sturdy, or how much of that is we just haven't hit on our QB recruits? Both Hohensee and Braden Wright are tremendous athletes, but they're not pure passers and we struggle at times to move the ball. There are problems for sure that need to get fixed... our offensive line hasn't looked good, our quarterbacks are under duress, we keep putting the ball on the ground, etc., etc. Those are things that can be corrected or helped with good coaching... we'll have to see if they get corrected or not. If they don't, maybe some changes do need to be made, but RW isn't one of them.

In and among everything above (and I’d argue our QB recruiting has gone downhill as well), there is one thing that we haven’t done very much from the Mel (and even AD) days, and that is keep our redshirts as redshirts. In recent years, how many times have we redshirted players only to pull it just as quickly? Is this something that is hurting our player development over the long term?

[lleachieshusband]

I remember NW losing to a pretty mediocre Pitt team one year by throwing 5 or 6 picks.

Was AD the hc then?

That was RW’s first year after AD left. We were playing our previous year’s 3rd stringer as our QB1 that year … and it showed.

[NW Normal]

Someone had to get the pity party started. NW lost, Iowa St. lost. If Chiefs lose today, it will complete the trifecta.

Huh, hope you are okay.

[Predatory Primates]

As an outside observer:

NW O has almost always been formidable since coach T took over and turned them around. They even won at least one natty with a great O and an iffy defense, but they didn't become a dynasty until they started fielding great defenses to compliment those offenses.

[Predatory Primates]

I remember NW losing to a pretty mediocre Pitt team one year by throwing 5 or 6 picks.

Was AD the hc then?

[Alfred33]

im not sure you should be throwing dirt on the program yet. having watched both the 2018 win and this ones personally, it was the same feel to it when NW took the field and oddly enough both UCO teams were 1-2. im not sure he has the teams full attention when they step on the field. both 2018 and 2022 version of UCO ran freshman running backs. offense wasnt exactly setting the world on fire and we were juggling qbs....

i think its a focus issue. when the whole town of maryville tells you how good you are, its tough for an 18year old to listen to his coach telling him they COULD get punched in the mouth.

i remember sitting in the parking lot of the stadium in 2017 in maryville listening to the local broadcast about everyone coming out to watch the spanking this Oklahoma team was getting ready to take. NWMS almost lost that game too. cant remember for sure but seems like a penalty caused us a FG instead of TD then a botched onside kick maybe? cant remember for sure.

anyway, my point is. from the old lady in the Hyvee on saturday morning telling us that glad we arrived safely but it was a "shame" we drove all that way to see a loss. to the radio station to students in their ear, its probably pretty tough to take somethings seriously. i mean, we had no reason to be taken seriously to be honest with you. outside of beating a perpetually bad Esu team, wed done nothing.

I agree. It could go one of two ways... It could wake us up and we play well the rest of the way, or it's a sign that we're going to have a down year. Either way, calls for Rich Wright's head are ridiculous even if you feel he's a better coordinator than head coach. You lose the coordinator too... And AD is not coming back. Listen, Dorrel had an amazing run at NW, but he left... it's not "payback" as a post in this thread said earlier. He took an opportunity and good for him. Let's also not forget that AD had an amazing staff during his time at NW as well, which included Rich. As good at building an offense and offensive game planning as AD was, Wright was equally as good on the other side of the ball. We haven't had truly great quarterback play since Zimmerman really, which coincides with ADs departure... how much of that was really AD, how much of that is now Todd Sturdy, or how much of that is we just haven't hit on our QB recruits? Both Hohensee and Braden Wright are tremendous athletes, but they're not pure passers and we struggle at times to move the ball. There are problems for sure that need to get fixed... our offensive line hasn't looked good, our quarterbacks are under duress, we keep putting the ball on the ground, etc., etc. Those are things that can be corrected or helped with good coaching... we'll have to see if they get corrected or not. If they don't, maybe some changes do need to be made, but RW isn't one of them.

[jimbo slice]

I really enjoy how many NW posters use initials as if it some code...

its a time saver really. if you use initials, it will give you back like 45 seconds of your day. that adds up.